USDA Agricultural Marketing Service sent this bulletin at 01/25/2018 01:02 PM EST

Hydroponic, Aquaponic and Aeroponic Production Systems

At
its Fall 2017 public meeting, the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) heard
significant testimony about hydroponic, aquaponic, and aeroponic operations.
Given the extensive debate on this topic, the Agricultural Marketing Service
(AMS) is posting this notice to clarify the status of these systems.

Certification of hydroponic,
aquaponic, and aeroponic operations is allowed under the USDA organic
regulations, and has been since
the National Organic Program began.For these products to
be labeled as organic, the operation must be certified by a USDA-accredited
certifying agent, and maintain compliance with the USDA
organic regulations.

The NOSB has
recommended prohibiting aeroponic systems in organic
production. USDA will consider this recommendation; aeroponics remains
allowed during this review.